Man Utd agree £60m deal with Chelsea as Blues continue summer sale

Manchester United have agreed a £55m fee with Chelsea to sign England international Mason Mount as Erik ten Hag’s summer rebuild starts.

The deal includes £5m in potential add-ons based on appearances and the team achieving success which could take it up to £60m.

Mount, who was heading into the final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge, will sign a five-year contract when he returns from holiday next week with the option of a sixth year.

Both clubs will feel they have got a good deal, with United having paid under Chelsea’s original £65m asking price and the Blues having moved on another high value player. They needed to sell players before 30 June to ease financial fair play concerns after an unprecedented £600m transfer spend in the first two transfer windows of the Todd Boelhy era.

At Old Trafford it represents the first significant deal of a summer that has been clouded by uncertainty over the club’s ownership.

The Mount deal is a breakthrough for Ten Hag, who has identified the 24-year-old as a player who can bring dynamism and intelligence to the United engine room.

Ten Hag has been a long-term fan of Mount, having witnessed his loan spell at Vitesse Arnhem in 2018 and tried to sign him the following year.

But it also represents the end of a long association with Chelsea for Mount, who joined the club when he was six and had originally wanted to remain at Stamford Bridge.

As i revealed in May 2022, Chelsea initiated talks with Mount over a new long-term deal but the two parties could not find an agreement. Talks were shelved in the spring and United subsequently rivalled Liverpool for his signature.

The next priority for the Red Devils is to resolve David de Gea’s future before moving on to the striker the club desperately needs.

De Gea is out of contract on Friday and is still considering a revised deal put to him by the club. United have begun negotiations with Andre Onana, the Inter Milan goalkeeper, as they prepare for life after the long-serving Spaniard.

The most important deal is arguably securing a striker with Harry Kane and Rasmus Hojlund targets.